Coronavirus outbreak: CJI rules out complete shutdown of SC amid virus threat

If any tour operator is found flouting the order, action will be taken against him under IPC 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), the official said. "With a view to prevent danger to human life, health or safety, we hereby promulgate an order under Section 144 of the CrPC in the areas under the control of Commissioner of Police, prohibiting the conduct of any business, holiday or another type of tours involving groups of people travelling together to a foreign or domestic destination organised by private tour operators," the police order read.

Researchers have succeeded in cracking the “spike protein” of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) through which it invades human cells and causes the infection. The researchers, led by Jason McLellan of the University of Texas at Austin, have not just identified the spike protein but also its “receptor” in the human body. Their findings have been published in the international magazine Science.

France and Spain joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people, Australia ordered self-isolation of arriving foreigners, and Argentina and El Salvadore extended entry bans as the world sought to contain the spreading coronavirus. Panic buying in Australia, the United States and Britain saw leaders appeal for calm over the virus that has infected over 138,000 people globally and killed more than 5,000.

Karnataka has tested the highest number of people for coronavirus in the country, the state government said on Saturday. So far, 731 samples have been processed. “On Saturday alone, 92 samples were collected for testing,” said medical education minister K Sudhakar. No new positive cases have come to light. The state’s figure for coronavirus infections stands at six, including an elderly Kalaburagi man who died this week.

Students returning to Kolkata from the coronavirus-hit Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi have been grounded by airfares that have escalated 300%-500% in 24 hours. While a one-way ticket from Bengaluru to Kolkata on Sunday touched Rs 25,000, the fare from Mumbai and Delhi to the city rose to Rs 34,000 and Rs 17,000 respectively.

Apart from restricting cargo handling, the government had last week prohibited entry of any international cruise ship, crew or passengers with a travel history to coronavirus-hit countries post-February 1, 2020, to its major ports till March 31.

A 59-year old woman with a travel history to Kazakastan and Russia has been tested positive for Covid-19, making her the first positive case from the eight districts of Marathwada region. The development came to fore after the Pune-based National Institute of Virology on Sunday noon confirmed her tests to be positive for Covid-19.

Though Mizoram has not yet reported any positive case of coronavirus, 117 people have been home quarantined as a precautionary measure, Health department principal director F Lallianhlira. "Even though no positive case has been reported, we have to remain alert," he said.

Twenty Dubai-bound passengers were detained at the airport here on Sunday shortly before takeoff after a UK national among them tested positive for novel coronavirus, official sources said. The person who tested positive on Sunday has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby government hospital, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

The new victim is the husband of a woman who recently travelled to Pakistan from the United States and tested positive on Saturday, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The lady is currently in critical condition, receiving treatment at the isolation ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the paper said, adding that there are now four COVID-19 patients at the isolation ward in PIMS. Pakistan reported five coronavirus cases on Saturday - two in Balochistan, two in Sindh and one in Islamabad.